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Author Topic: iMac vs Mac Mini + LCD Display for Digital Photo Editing  (Read 10285 times)

PeterSommers

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iMac vs Mac Mini + LCD Display for Digital Photo Editing
« on: July 22, 2010, 10:40:30 pm »

Advice Needed: I seek your advice on purchasing "ideal" Mac computer and LCD display for digital photography editing/processing within a budget of $3000-3500.


My Experience/Goals: I have done amateur-level analog photography for many years and am now attending CC classes to become proficient in Mac os, digital photo editing using LightRoom, and digital printing (school photo lab uses Mac Pros/ older matte Cinema displays). My goal is to continue shooting film and edit/process digitally.

Decision Options: I was all set to purchase an iMac 27-inch i7( 8gb RAM; 2TB hard drive that runs at 7200 rpm/min). Then, I came across an excellent digital photography blog where the new (2010) Mac mini computer (2.66 GHz core 2 duo processor; 8gb RAM; 500 GB hard drive running at 5400 rpm/min) is recommended as ideal for digital photography editing and processing when paired with a high resolution (1920 x 1200 pixels), wide color gamut (95% + Adobe RGB) LCD display, ie one that can be "easily profiled for both color and density print making". This set-up is advocated as the best, "affordable" way to obtain "color managed prints that are extremely well matched in color and brightness".

This recommendation makes sense to me, but I have almost no experience at this point in digital editing and processing and I have not come across similar recommendations in LL forum. Therefore, I would be grateful for any thoughts you may have that could help me decide on the best option given my goals and budget. Perhaps there is even a 3rd option that might fit within my budget? (Both the iMac and Mac Mini options price out at about $3000 with tax, depending of course on the LCD monitor selected for option 2)
 
Thank you,

Peter Sommers

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Jack Flesher

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iMac vs Mac Mini + LCD Display for Digital Photo Editing
« Reply #1 on: July 23, 2010, 04:19:18 am »

Personally, I'd buy a current or 1 generation old "refurb" Mac Pro from the Apple online store.  Does not have to be this particular one, but it is an example that falls within your budget: http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC183LL/A?mco=MTMyMTU3OTY (FWIW, I am now running a two generation old Mac Pro and am in no particular hurry to upgrade it.) They update the refurb section daily, so worth keeping an eye on it.  

Disadvantage to iMac is the monitor, disadvantage to the mini is it's basically a laptop in a block that you attach a monitor and keyboard too so it's slower than the top iMac or bottom Mac Pro.  Compared to the Mac Pro, neither is very friendly to upgrade with ram, video and drives -- in fact the iMac is a relative nightmare as you have to pry off the monitor cover glass.
« Last Edit: July 23, 2010, 04:22:32 am by Jack Flesher »
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Chairman Bill

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iMac vs Mac Mini + LCD Display for Digital Photo Editing
« Reply #2 on: July 23, 2010, 04:33:20 am »

If you're a student, you might find that a new Mac Pro is cheaper through the Apple on-line education store than it is as a refurb. Savings from higher education establishments are even greater (by about 2% over usual education savings), but you'd need to access the store from the university.

If you get a Mac Pro, you'll obviously need to leave money aside for a decent monitor, but it might be worth looking for a used one, and of course bear in mind that you can easily upgrade as funds become available. Don't buy RAM from Apple, but do set aside some money to get this from a third party; extra RAM is vital, or you'll spend all day looking at that bloody spinning beachball!

PeterSommers

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iMac vs Mac Mini + LCD Display for Digital Photo Editing
« Reply #3 on: July 27, 2010, 07:55:34 pm »

[attachment=23355:iMac_ver...ni_Reply.doc][quote name='PeterSommers' date='Jul 22 2010, 09:40 PM' post='377797']
Advice Needed: I seek your advice on purchasing "ideal" Mac computer and LCD display for digital photography editing/processing within a budget of $3000-3500.


My Experience/Goals: I have done amateur-level analog photography for many years and am now attending CC classes to become proficient in Mac os, digital photo editing using LightRoom, and digital printing (school photo lab uses Mac Pros/ older matte Cinema displays). My goal is to continue shooting film and edit/process digitally.

Decision Options: I was all set to purchase an iMac 27-inch i7( 8gb RAM; 2TB hard drive that runs at 7200 rpm/min). Then, I came across an excellent digital photography blog where the new (2010) Mac mini computer (2.66 GHz core 2 duo processor; 8gb RAM; 500 GB hard drive running at 5400 rpm/min) is recommended as ideal for digital photography editing and processing when paired with a high resolution (1920 x 1200 pixels), wide color gamut (95% + Adobe RGB) LCD display, ie one that can be "easily profiled for both color and density print making". This set-up is advocated as the best, "affordable" way to obtain "color managed prints that are extremely well matched in color and brightness".

This recommendation makes sense to me, but I have almost no experience at this point in digital editing and processing and I have not come across similar recommendations in LL forum. Therefore, I would be grateful for any thoughts you may have that could help me decide on the best option given my goals and budget. Perhaps there is even a 3rd option that might fit within my budget? (Both the iMac and Mac Mini options price out at about $3000 with tax, depending of course on the LCD monitor selected for option 2)
 
Thank you,

Peter Sommers




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PeterSommers

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iMac vs Mac Mini + LCD Display for Digital Photo Editing
« Reply #4 on: July 27, 2010, 07:59:22 pm »

Jack and Bill,

Thank you very much for your advice and recommendations. Purchasing a Mac Pro makes great sense given my current goals---I have the $ resources so why should I compromise at this point in my life?

I checked AppleOnLine for refurbished Mac Pros and only the 2.66 GHz 8 core is available currently ( the 2.93 GHz Quad core is out of stock and I understand that one must check back daily on availability of the desired model). The Apple Store for Educators lists only the 2.66 GHz Quad core ($2,299) and the much more expensive 8 core. I believe I could reconfigure the 2.66 Quad core to the 2.93 specs for approximately $750.

I did come across the “MPG Photo Workstation” mac pro upgrade plan offered by Other World Computing based in Illinois. OWC suggests starting with the 2.66 GHz Quad core which they would then upgrade by installing12GB system memory as 3 x 4 GB modules; two 7K2000 2TB hard drives; and one PCIe eSATA card. They would also do certain additional configurations (creating “Master”, “Scratch” and “TimeMachine tm” volumes), set a variety of system preferences, and complete an 8-hour system “burn-in”. The cost for this upgrade plan is $1300 which is not a whole lot more than the $750 2.66 to 2.93 upgrade plus additional RAM plus state tax.

I have little understanding as to what these upgrades offer in terms of computer photo editing performance (although I do understand principle of “the more RAM the better”). In any case, I would be grateful for any thoughts you may have about these specific upgrades or advice on upgrades in general. .In my naivete, I had been thinking that one could just take the computer out of the box, connect it to a monitor, calibrate the monitor, upload lightroom 3 and then get to work. I guess I have a lot to learn!.

Peter Sommers


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K.C.

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iMac vs Mac Mini + LCD Display for Digital Photo Editing
« Reply #5 on: July 28, 2010, 03:09:02 am »

Quote from: PeterSommers
This recommendation makes sense to me, but I have almost no experience at this point in digital editing and processing and I have not come across similar recommendations in LL forum. Therefore, I would be grateful for any thoughts you may have that could help me decide on the best option given my goals and budget.

The reality is you need to spend countless mouse hours learning about raw conversion, image editing, struggling with color management, printing and posting novice questions here.

Buy the cheapest system you'll have another use for after you learn you way around.

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PeterSommers

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iMac vs Mac Mini + LCD Display for Digital Photo Editing
« Reply #6 on: July 29, 2010, 03:44:03 pm »

Quote from: K.C.
The reality is you need to spend countless mouse hours learning about raw conversion, image editing, struggling with color management, printing and posting novice questions here.

Buy the cheapest system you'll have another use for after you learn you way around.


KC,

Thank you very much for your advice. I do realize that I have a HUGE amount of learning to do, starting with learning the Mac OS and then all the areas you have listed. I am hoping that my community college classes with help accelerate that learning process and I will also take advantage of the advice provided thru the LL forum.

Thanks,

Peter Sommers


attachment=23395:iMac_ver..._reply_2.doc]
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jalcocer

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Re: iMac vs Mac Mini + LCD Display for Digital Photo Editing
« Reply #7 on: November 04, 2010, 05:32:49 pm »

Hi, I'm new at this site and bumped into it searching for tips about buying or not a mac mini for photo editing. I've been very interested in this thread and was wondering which option you choose at last? imac, mac mini, mac pro? and if you did so, how is everything going so far?

regards
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